title: Serum miR-21 and miR-155 expression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the expression of serum miRNA-21(miR-21) and miRNA-155 (miR-155) in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).
  
  
  METHODS
  A study including 65 patients with IPF and 65 similar age and gender healthy controls was performed. Serum specimens were collected from all subjects. Total RNA was extracted and the quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction was used to measure serum miR-21 and miR-155 in both groups. Clinicopathologic features were assessed to determine associations with serum miR-21 and miR-155 concentrations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum miR-21 expression was significantly higher in IPF samples than in healthy controls (p < 0.01), while serum miR-155 expression did not show a statistically significant difference (p > 0.05). Forced vital capacity (FVC) and radiologic features were associated with miR-21 and miR-155 expression in serum (p < 0.05). Neither miR-21 nor miR-155 expression was statistically significantly associated with clinicopathologic parameters, such as gender (p > 0.05) and age (p > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These findings suggest that serum miR-21 is associated with IPF and the degree of damage indicated by FVC and radiologic examinations could correlate with miR-21 and miR-155 expression in serum. From another perspective, our study confirmed serum miRNA can be stable and detectable in serum of patients with IPF, which could prove useful as it could be considered as a new biomarker in serum for diagnosis and assessment of prognosis of IPF in the future.
authors.affiliation: Department of Respiratory Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University , Zhengzhou, Henan , People's Republic of China and.
authors.forename: Ping
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Guo-Qiang
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Teng-Fei
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jing-Xia
authors.initials: JX
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Hua-Qi
authors.initials: HQ
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Shan-Shan
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Guo-Jun
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D054990:Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000235:genetics; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear; D008297:Male; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D012313:RNA / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D011859:Radiography; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014797:Vital Capacity
chemical_list: C524942:MIRN155 microRNA, human; C524940:MIRN21 microRNA, human; D035683:MicroRNAs; D012313:RNA